Having beaten off their pursuers, the Vikings quickly buried the bodies of their comrades and returned to Leeds with the captured equipment. After a few days of rest, they finally waited for the lost 2,000 soldiers.
Having expanded to almost 3,000 men, Ragnar did not want to linger. News of the Viking invasion had spread throughout Northumbria. It was estimated that militias were gathering in various places. If this dragged on, I fear that the enemy will gather another army of 2,000-3,000 men.
"Go north and attack York!"
That same day, the Viking fleet entered the River Ouse. For some reason, the volume of water in this river is very small this year, and the English also threw a large number of felled trees into the shallows, which seriously hampered the navigation of the Vikings.
In the circumstances of necessity, Ragnar led his troops to the east bank and prepared to march on York City. To prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to burn the ships, he asked the fleet to return to the mouth of the Humber with the plundered treasures and try to choose a more hidden river bay.
...
York City was originally built by the Romans, and Constantine I was crowned here by an army. As a major military city in the north of the Roman Empire, it has a five-kilometer-long wall about six meters high. The River Ouse on the western side of the city serves as a natural barrier, making it much more difficult to attack than Leeds had been before.
Seeing this, Wygh completely lost the idea of raiding the city and silently calculated the time and resources needed to build siege equipment.
Searching through his memory, he selected four types of equipment, namely ladders, siege towers, battering rams, and counterweight trebuchets.
Ladders are the most commonly used siege equipment and are the easiest to build. Soldiers need to carry them to the foot of the city wall and then climb the city wall to fight the defenders. This is commonly known as an "ant siege". The casualty rate is extremely high. Today's Viking army has a loose organizational structure and cannot afford such casualties.
A siege tower is a wooden platform that can be pushed, with soldiers hidden inside, and the same height as the city wall. During a siege, soldiers slowly push it to the edge of the city wall. Once the partition is lowered, a large number of heavily armed soldiers hidden in the tower rush up the city wall, and the transportation efficiency is much higher than that of a ladder.
The siege hammer is used to hit the city gates. There is a wooden canopy on top to block the stones and arrows over the city wall for soldiers, but the defenders can pour asphalt and kerosene to set it on fire, which is very dangerous.
The counterweight trebuchet can throw stones to destroy the city wall. The downside is that it is too difficult to build. Vig only has a rough sketch in his head, and he is not 100% sure that he can restore it to reality.
...
"If you look at the records of siege battles in medieval Europe, it can take at least two to three months, and sometimes more than six months. Do these Vikings have enough patience?"
He used a homemade charcoal pencil to smudge and alter the papyrus, and found that a large number of people had gathered in Ragnar's tent nearby, and a battle conference was about to take place. Rushing
into the tent, Vig suggested that Ragnar proceed cautiously: "I suffered a defeat in Manchuria last time, so it's safer this time. Wait until I build the siege equipment before launching a full-scale attack."
His words drew recognition from the participants, but the reinforcements brought by King Eric had never suffered any losses, and they were thinking of breaking into the royal city to seize the fortune. Some even mocked Vig's cowardice and said that he was unworthy of the dragon's breath sword.
"Fuck, you have the nerve to say that again! I have a "broken heart" too, dare you take it too?"
Ivar grabbed a wooden cup and threw it at them. Everyone was pushing and swearing at each other, and the whole tent was in chaos.
...
"Shut up!"
His men were beaten, and King Eric said with a grim face: "Everyone has come to Britain to make money and does not want to get involved in pointless arguments. Since we cannot come to an agreement, I will build wooden ladders to attack the city myself. If anyone wants to participate, we will share the treasure after the war. If not, forget it."
After a big fight, Eric left with five of his closest nobles. Over the next five days, he ordered the men to build 200 long ladders and ordered his subordinates to secretly incite Ragnar's troops. In the end, he convinced 2,300 men to follow him to attack the city.
May 11, morning.
After breakfast, the Vikings gathered in disarray in the open. Eric concentrated his attack on the eastern wall, intending to take the city in one fell swoop, lest his reputation be surpassed by Ragnar. Although he had married his younger sister Thora, this tenuous family loyalty had no binding power in the face of force.
"Charge, Odin watches over us!"
The first party of 800 Vikings rushed the wall with long ladders, while the 300 archers responsible for covering formed a loose horizontal line and shot at the Anglo-Saxons behind the battlements.
The defenders decided to ignore the Viking archers and concentrate on shooting at the Viking warriors carrying the wooden ladders.
Suddenly, a thunderous cheer sounded over the wall, and a group of guards surrounded a fat boy and walked around him. Unsurprisingly, that man was Ella, Elaud's only son and heir to the throne of Northumbria.
As the crown prince led the battle, the defenders' morale grew more and more buoyant, and they also deliberately adjusted their shooting strategy. Four men on each side of each ladder. The garrison's archers deliberately fired at the soldiers on the left. When only one or two men remained on the left, the ladder lost its balance and its speed slowed considerably.
Eventually, only thirty ladders reached the foot of the city wall. Eric realized that the situation was bad and led the remaining Vikings to attack. The momentum was so great that Ragnar's troops, who were responsible for overseeing the battle, were eager to give it a try.
"Am I wrong? Does Eric have any hope of breaking the city?"
Ragnar looked serious. He pressed the hilt of his sword with his right hand and turned his head to look at the hundreds of soldiers behind him. He was in a quandary. "Vig, remove the fifty ladders you have built. Once Eric's troops have stormed the top of the city, we must follow!" "
Yes."
Vig asked the men to go to the camp to carry the ladders. Five minutes later, when he arrived, breathing heavily, with the ladders, he found the defenders in the distance frantically throwing down asphalt.
Faced with this method, the Vikings climbing the ladders had no choice but to watch the hot, sticky asphalt pour down in front of them. The next moment, a torch was thrown from behind the battlements, turning these Viking warriors into screaming and howling firemen.
Seeing the miserable state of their comrades, the morale of the Vikings under the city wall collapsed, and they spontaneously evacuated with their round shields raised. The massive siege lasted less than half an hour and was over.
"This is too tragic."
Looking at the charred bodies that fell under the city wall, Vig swallowed hard. No wonder that sieges in the Middle Ages were mostly sieges, and forced attacks were simply disastrous.
He looked at Ragnar: "Londinium's defenses are no worse than York's. How did you break through them two years ago?"
Seeing this pitiful state, Ragnar was also afraid: "This is different. We arrived in the city along the River Thames in the middle of the night and used rope hooks to attack the city at night. "Damn it, I didn't expect the casualties in a frontal siege to be so heavy. This is a disaster."